Mindfulness Meditation · Impermanence
This week’s meditation session is led by Peter Corbett and the theme is Impermanence. The guided meditation begins at 7:16.
Ritual Bone Apron; Tibet/Nepal; 18th - 19th century; Bone; 24 1/2 × 31 1/2 × 1 1/4 in.; Rubin Museum of Art; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art; C2006.69.4
Objects made from bone are generally intended to act as reminders of our mortality. Foremost among them are objects made from human bone and most of all, the human skull. Bones are selected with very specific criteria for various ritual uses. Some belonged to holy people, while others have gained ritual potency based upon the character of the deceased and the circumstances of their death. Some rosaries and ritual instruments, such as hand drums and trumpets, are made from human bone. Other bone ornaments, like the ritual apron displayed here, are made of animal bone. Similar aprons are worn by tantric masters during specific stages of ritual ceremonies to symbolize nondual wisdom while conferring initiation.
Peter Corbett has been a meditation practitioner for over 24 years, first encountering the practice through the Dalai Lama’s Emory-Tibet Partnership at Emory University, where he was a student. Over many years of study and practice, Peter was drawn to Zen Buddhism and joined the Mountains and Rivers Order of Zen Mountain Monastery, where he is a Practicing Member.
Over the course of his Zen training, Peter has served as a spiritual care provider through the New York Zen Center of Contemplative Care, where he studied under Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei and Chodo Robert Campbell Sensei. He is a frequent zazen instructor and has taught this core zen practice to hundreds of beginners nationwide.
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